A Hopelessly Biased Competition

*Notice*
Please take note that in this blog post there are spoilers for Season 3 of the BBC series 'Merlin' as well as Season 1 of 'Camelot'. Yes, Larry, that means you.
*End of Notice*


It has been so long since I blogged :s So now that I've been inspired to add to my random collection of thoughts, here I am.


So recently I've finally caught up with the latest season of 'Merlin'. I just love the Arthurian legend so yeah, watching 'Merlin' is a rare treat for me. And since I haven't been watching the accursed channel 702 since they changed it from Hallmark to 'Diva', I completely missed it when they aired Season 3 of 'Merlin'. What a damned shame. Because Season 3 is freakishly awesome.


Even more recently, when I finished watching Season 3 of 'Merlin', I started watching this newer show 'Camelot' which of course is based in Arthurian legend too. Obviously I couldn't help myself and started watching it. 'Camelot' is....well let's just compare the two before I get into that, shall we?


Merlin vs Camelot


1. Obviously the first thing I noticed was the differences in the Merlins.


First take a look at the Merlin from 'Merlin'.

Isn't he adorable?


'Merlin' centres on a younger Merlin (played by Colin Morgan) and Arthur and Guinevere and well...everyone else so the Merlin we see here is a young boy, still struggling with his abilities with magic (he gets pretty good at it and there's magic in almost every episode, don't worry) and decision making. He is innocent to the point of naivete which makes him hopelessly endearing. He's also funny and is very conscientious, hesitating even to kill his enemies. And since magic was forbidden at the time, he has to resort to protecting Arthur by being his servant. He complains about Arthur's mistreatment of him often, only making me love him even more. It doesn't hurt that he's also kinda cute in a nerdy, helpless kinda way. I love Merlin from 'Merlin'.


Now let's take a look at the Merlin from 'Camelot'.

Did you just get freaked out? I sure did.


The Merlin from 'Camelot' (played by Joseph Fiennes) is a much darker and more complex character (as the picture so aptly shows *shudder*). He's very mysterious, not revealing much about himself and operating very...well, mysteriously. Apparently he doesn't age, so no one knows how old he is. Arthur thinks he's been around since the Romans were in Britain so that makes him pretty old. And he's quite useless, he never uses magic. At least he didn't until the fourth episode, by which time I was resigned to the fact that 'Camelot' Merlin was too useless for words. And guess what? When he finally starts to use magic (for a full minute and a half too), he suddenly becomes this lying, murderous psychopath. Riiiight. But he's pretty compelling and you want to know what's behind the intrigue that surrounds his character. And obviously Joseph Fiennes who plays him is unbelievably hot. He looks better with hair, but oh well.


Conclusion:
This one's a tough one.

I'm gonna have to go with Merlin from 'Merlin' though. Those baby blues had me the first time I saw them :)


So far we have the score at 1-0 to 'Merlin.


2. Let's compare Arthurs next :)


So here's the Arthur from 'Merlin'.

Oh. Be still, my beating heart. He is cute.


Okay, okay I'm calming down. But he is cute. The Arthur from 'Merlin' (played by Bradley James) is basically a spoilt prince (who tortures Merlin), but with an honest and fair judgement. Simply put, he's noble. And cute. He constantly has to put up with the stress of living up to his father's image as King of Camelot. And he's the one who does all the dangerous work for his father (who does nothing but sit in his throne and panic at the slightest hint of magic, but we'll come back to that later), going on quests and saving Camelot. He's the best swordsman in the series so far. He's slightly dense obviously, since Merlin gets away with performing so much magic right under his nose. And though he makes fun of Merlin a lot, he's very loyal to him, which makes him even cuter.  In the third season he becomes unbearably hot as his character evolves to become more kingly than princely. Arthur's pretty awesome.


So now here's the Arthur from 'Camelot'.

Okay. No need for my heart to be still or anything.


Arthur from 'Camelot' (played by Jamie Campbell Bower) annoys me. But before that, let me attempt to be unbiased. The Arthur from 'Camelot' was raised not knowing that he was heir to the throne. He was raised on a...farm? I don't know la but whatever it was, he didn't know King Uther Pendragon was his father. So he's a nobody. But when Merlin appears to tell him who he really is and stuff, he suddenly becomes Mr. I'm All That. This guy, who has a country to run and very little time for much else, can even yell at Merlin, threaten to kill him, think he knows more than him...*sigh*. So despite being a nobody, he's still a spoilt brat. But the biggest problem I have with him is that he has such huge things to worry about, what with having to turn a country's allegiance to him and all, but you know what he's concerned about? Guinevere. All he cares about is having sex and stealing her away from one of his knights, Sir Leontes, who she is married to. Urgh. Arthur sucks.


Conclusion:
I have to say, this one wasn't all that difficult. At all.

This one goes to *drumroll* Arthur from 'Merlin'!!!


And 2-0 to 'Merlin'!


3. Now let's take a look at the Guineveres.


This is the Guinevere from 'Merlin'.

So in 'Merlin' Guinevere (played by Angel Coulby), best known as Gwen, is actually a servant girl to Uther's ward, Morgana. She's really sweet and genuine. And the best part is, she's sensible. She's not the weepy type, even when Arthur was going to get married to someone else. She's strong and of course, unquestionably loyal to Arthur and has more faith in him than anyone else. Her loyalties are questioned more than once, but she always endures. Only thing is, everyone seems to fall in love with her lol. First Lancelot, then Arthur, then Gwaine...but oh well.


Then there's Guinevere from 'Camelot'.

Yes. She is incredibly pretty.


Guinevere (played by Tamsin Egerton) here is betrothed to one of Arthur's knights who she eventually marries. But she's attracted to Arthur for goodness knows what reason. And yes, she cheats on her husband with Arthur and then tries to be all Zen about it. She tries hard to come off as a kick-ass strong heroine type, but fails quite miserably. It may have something to do with the fact that she always looks like she's about to burst into tears. I don't know, I just hated her on sight.


Conclusion:
Is there even a doubt?

Guinevere of 'Merlin' I crown thee the true Queen of Camelot.


Oh wow, 'Merlin' really is running away with the prize at 3-0.


4. Next we have the evil witches of both the series.


Firstly, Lady Morgana of 'Merlin'.

What it comes down to is that Lady Morgana (played by Katie McGrath) is a spoilt rich kid with daddy issues. She's really pretty and she has pretty much everything but when she finds out that she has magic, she starts to hate herself because being King Uther's ward, she has grown up with the idea that magic is wrong and dirty and generally despised. So she then becomes evil and works against Uther to take the throne herself. Mid-season of Season 3, she finds out it won't be too difficult because Uther is her biological father. She makes the transition from good to evil pretty well. But sometimes she goes over the top. Morgana hating Uther is understandable of course, but suddenly she wants Arthur, who has done her no wrong, dead as well. And she becomes a little too heartless a little too fast. Her acting got a little lame in Season 3 too; all I saw was that stupid evil smirk on her face. It soon lost its power. So...Morgana isn't awful or anything, she just wasn't that convincing to me.


Then we have Morgan le Fay from 'Camelot'.

I have to say, the role of Morgan was carried out to perfection by Eva Green. She was totally believable as an evil, unfeeling and callous witch. She was banished by her own father so here the issues between King Uther and Morgan are a bit more obvious. She takes the more direct approach to taking the throne, killing Uther in the very first episode. And she's also devious and way more cunning than Morgana from 'Merlin'. She hatches her own plots while Morgana relies heavily on her magical ally, Morgause for schemes to take over the throne. Morgan gives me chills.


Conclusion:
This one was slightly tricky.

I sort of like them both but I'm gonna have to go with Morgan from 'Camelot'.


So now the score stands at 3-1 to 'Merlin'.


5. Now let's take a look at the good stuff. The chemistry between Arthur and Guinevere.


Okay so with Merlin it was kind of weird at first cause Guinevere had a crush on Merlin at first lol. And Arthur and Guinevere didn't even notice each other until this particular episode. Arthur was trying to prove to the kingdom that he didn't win tournaments and stuff because he was prince and people lost to him on purpose. So he had to stay at Gwen's house for some time so that he wouldn't be seen and suddenly...this happened.

It was so sweet :) Oh and I like this one too.

I love how they have this very innocent kind of love. And they're so sweet together.


Then we have Arthur and Guinevere from 'Camelot'.


Their story is less complex and all about sex. First he had a dream about her. The wet kind. Then they met and talked and then they had sex and then she got married to someone else. They don't really have that chemistry. When I see them its like looking at a teenage boy with his school teacher. Not in a good way.

Conclusion:
This one wasn't too difficult either.

Arthur and Gwen from 'Merlin' of course. Hopelessly biased, remember?


4-1 to 'Merlin'.


6. I think the funniest part of my entire post is right here. The dynamic between Arthur and Merlin.


Here's Arthur and Merlin from 'Merlin'.

Don't lie, I know you went 'awwwwww'.


Adorableness aside, Arthur and Merlin have a very lighthearted relationship in Merlin. But Merlin is devoted to Arthur and stands by him, while Arthur tries to hide the fact that he has a soft spot for Merlin. The way they communicate makes you think of brothers of sorts rather than master and servant.

This is one of my favourite videos where Merlin transforms himself with an aging spell to save Gwen from being burnt at the stake.

Goodness, these two are hilarious.


And then we have Arthur and Merlin from 'Camelot'.

Arthur and Merlin have a very serious and volatile relationship in 'Camelot'. There is not a single light moment, everything's dark and sad and tragic. It's quite depressing, really. Their communication basically consists of Merlin telling Arthur what to do and Arthur questioning everything that Merlin says. I couldn't find any videos, not that I looked very hard lol.


Conclusion:
Definitely the easiest choice.

And so Merlin wins with a whopping score of 5-1 :D


Okay now let me just say, this part I couldn't compare because only one series has it. But I have to mention it, I just have to. Watch this video and you'll know.

Oh the perfection that is Lancelot. That smile rocks my world upside down and inside out.

Lancelot alone could bring 5 points to the score. *drool* Not only is he hot, he's...well he's hot la. And 'Camelot' doesn't even have a Lancelot. It's practically a crime. 


So there we go. With Lancelot, 'Merlin' wins my little biased competition, thrashing 'Camelot' 6-1. Congratulations 'Merlin'.